Fire-resisting vault for safes.



No. 781,798. PATENTE!) FEB. 7, 1905. J. C. THOMPSON.

FIRE RESISTING VAULT POR SAPES.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 7, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

M72 51-.;2 f ,/f 26111111-1111w f Patented February 7', 1905.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OEEicE.

JOSEPH C. THOMPSON, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TOHARRY G. TAYLOR, OF BiAlJlllMtHtflC, MARYLAND.

FIRE-RESISTING VAULT FOR SAFESn SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent N0. 781,798, elated February '7, 1905.

Application filed April 7, 1904. Serial No. 202,113.

Be it known that l, Josnru O. Tu'tmrsox, a citizen ofthe United States,residing' at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented new anduseful Improvements in Fire- Resisting Vaults for Safes, of which thefollowing' is a specification.

This invention relates to fire-resisting vaults for safes.

The invention particularly resides in providing' a new and novellire-resisting vault Vprovided with means hereinafter referred to forflooding the vault with water, so as to submerge the safe therein, aswell as keeping the safe submerged by causing' a circulation of waterthrough the vault.

The invention further resides in providing' the vault with new and novelmeans, hereinafter referred to, for automatically opening' thewater-suimly, so as to cause the tiooding of the vault, as well as thecirculation of the water through the vault.

rlhe invention further resides in the manner of constructing' the wallsof the vault of different tire-resisting materials so as to protect thesafe, as well as prevent leakage during' the flooding' of the vault andduring the circulation of the water through the vault.

The invention further aims to construct a lire-resisting vault 'forsafes which shall be simple in its construction, strong, durable,etlicient in its use, lire-resisting', and comparatively inexpensive toset up.

lVith the foregoing' and other objects in View the invention consists ofthe novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter morespecifically described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, andparticularly pointed out in the claims hereunto appended.

ln describing the invention in detail, reference is had to theaccompanying'drawings, Yforming a part of this speeitication, whereinlike reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout theseveral views, and in whichv Figure i is a sectional elevation of avault constructed in accordance with this invention and used as what maybe termed a\vall-vault and is adapted to be built in the walls of theupper stories of buildings. Fig. i2 is a front elevation of Fig'. 1.Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a vault constructed in accordancewith this invention and used for what may be termed a cellar-vault,which is placed in the cellar or subcellar of a building; and Fig. l isa detail view of the operating-lever for the lift shown in Fig. 3.

The construction shown in Figs. 1 and Q is adapted to be built in thewalls of a building', and the vault shown in Figs. .i and Q has thewalls thereof constructed of an outer section 1 of lire-resistingmaterial, such as tire-brick or material of an analogous character, theintermediate section 2 of asbestos, and the inner section 3 of steel.The vault is provided with a door 4f at the front thereof, a suitableopening' being' formed in the front wall for said door i, and to securea water-tight joint between the door l and the front wall of the vault asuitable packing' is provided. The door 4s is constructed of anysuitable lire-resisting' material. The inner section 3 of the vault isin the shape of a tank, so as to prevent leakage when the 'vault isflooded with water. lf the section i should crack, owing' to intenseheat, then owing to the construction of the inner section i3 in themanner as set forth leakage would be prevented, as it is extremelydoubtful whether the steel tank 3 would crack, owing' to the fact thatit is covered exteriorly with the asbestos 2, which forms theintermediate section, and also in view of the fact that the watercirculating through the tank keeps it cool.- The pipesystem forflooding' the vault, as well as causing' a circulation of water throughthe vault. consists of a feed-pipe (j, communicating', through themedium of an automaticallyoperating' cut-ottl T, with a supply-pipe S.The feed-pipe t3 communicates with the interior of the vault through themedium of the inlet-pipeQ, which extends into the vault, and is closedat its inner 'end by a flap-valve l0. It may be well to state thatsuitable means, such as a rod or other suitable device, may extendthrough the inlet-pipe 9, so as to open and close, if (,lesirable, the{lap-'valve it). The feed-pipe t also communicates with a drain-pipe ilthrough the medium of a cutoff 12. The overiiow or discharge pipe forthe vault is indicated by the reference character 13 and is preferablyarranged at the top of the vault, as shown. The means for causing theautomatic operation of the cut-off 7 consists of a lever 14, mountedupon the stem 15 of the cut-off 7, as at 16, and has one end providedwith a weight 17, while its other end is connected to any suitable meansfor retaining said lever 14 in its inoperative position. As shown, themeans employed is a fuse 18, which retains the lever' 14 in the positionas shown in Fig. 2; but when said fuse 18 is burned away the lever 14will be released, so that the action of the weight 17 will rock thelever and operate the cut-off 7, or, in other words, open the cut-olf 7,so that the water will pass through the feed-pipe 6,through theinletpipe 9 into the vault, submerge the safe, and then pass outwardthrough the pipe 13. If through any cause the supply-pipe8 should beprevented from performing its function that is to say, supplying waterto the pipe 6- the water will beprevented from dischargingfrom thevault, owing to the fact that the iiapvalve will close the inlet-pipe 9.If it be desired to drain the vault, the flap-valve 10 is opened by anysuitable means, as well as the cut-off 12, and the vault is drained bythe discharge of the water through the pipe 9 into the drain-pipe 11.Vhen the vault is to be drained, the cut-off 7 is closed. If the supplyof water should be shut od through some cause or other, the pressure ofthe water within the vault will close the Hap-valve 10, and if the heatshould generate steam the discharge of the steam would be had throughthe pipe 13. The pipes 6, 8, 9, 11, and 13 are covered with a suitablefire-resisting material, such as asbestos, uralite, and transite.

The construction shown in Figs. 3 and 4 shows the arrangement of thevault when placed in a cellar or subcellar and further shows a means forlowering the safe into the vault, as well as a means for automaticallyclosing the vault. Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, 19 denotes thecellar-level, and 2() denotes the vault built into the ground. In theconstruction of vault in Fig. 3 it is open at the top and in its bottomprovided with a compartm'ent 21, in which is arranged the inlet end 22of the water-supply pipe 23, and within the said compartment 21 isarranged an automatically-operated cut-ofi' 24, having anupwardly-extending stem 25, carrying a plate 26. The manner in which thecut-off 24 is operatedwill he hereinafter referred to. The referencecharacter 27 denotes the floor-level and which is provided with asuitable opening to permit of the operation of the platform 28 of ahydraulic or electric lift of known construction, and upon said platform28 is mounted a safe 29. rfhe vault 2O is closed through the medium ofthe door 30, hinged, as at 31, to the top of the vault and carrying aninwardly-extending protuberance 32, to which is attached anoperating-rod 33 for the door 30,

the operating-rod 33-having its lower end formed with a right-angleprojection, as at 34, which is adapted to be engaged by the platform 28,so as to cause the closing of the door 30. Such operation is had, owingto the fact that when the platform 28 is lowered into the vault 2O itwill engage the projection 34 and carry the rod 33 therewith, therebyswinging the door 30 to closing position. The reference character 35denotes the operating means for the lift and the reference character 36the operating cord or cable for the lift. Said operating cord or cableis automatically operated so as to cause the lowering of the safethrough the medium of the lift into the vault 20, and said vcable 36 isautomatically operated through the means of a lever 37, pivoted as at38, having one end engaging the cable 36, as at 39, and its other endconnected to a compression-spring 40 and to a fuse 41. l/Vhen the fuse41 is connected to the lever 37 in the position as shown in Fig. 3, thelever 37 is in its normal position; but when the fuse is burned away anddisconnected from the end of the lever 37 the action of the spring 40will cause the rocking of the lever 37, thereby pulling theoperating-cable 36, and consequently operating the lift, which willcause the platform 28 to descend in the vault 20, carrying the safe 29therewith. As the platform descends in the vault 20 it will engage withthe plate 26 of the stem 25 and operate the cutoif 24, thereby openingthe pipe 23 and permitting the iiooding of the vault. As before stated,when the platform 28 is lowered within the vault 2() the rod 33 will beoperated so as to swing the cover 30 lto closing position. The vault 2Ois provided with an overflow-pipe 42, so as to obtain a circulation ofwater through the vault.

It will be evident from the foregoing construction, taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, that a fire-resisting vault Vfor safesis set up which will thoroughly protect the safe in case of fire andthat a new. and novel means is devised whereby the flooding of the vaultis obtained, as well as permitting of a circulation of water through thevault, which affords additional protection for the safe, and it isthought that the many advantages of such a construction can bethoroughly understood, and it will furthermore be evident that changes,variations, and modifications can be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit of my invention or sacrificing any of its advantages, and Itherefore do not wish to restrict myself to the details of constructionhereinbefore described, and set forth in the annexed drawings, butreserve the right 1- to make such changes, variations, and modificationsas come properly within the scope of the protection prayed.

Having thus fully described my invention,

IIO

l. ln a tire-resisting vault for removable x Safes, the combination withthe vault, of a normallyv closed Water-feeding dence communicating' withthe Vault and a water-Supply,

and means for mitoinaticallv opening' Suid de- Vice.v Y'arisingtherchythe filling of thcinterior of the vault with water and thesubmcrg'ing' of the safe.

ln combination, a Vault adapted to receive u Safe, and :i normzill)rclosed water-feedingl device communicating with said mult sind adaptedwhen opened to cause u circulation o Water through und the lilling' ofthe interior I5 of the Vault thor-ehr suhincrging the safe.

In tentimony whereof `l have hereunto Set my hund m presence ol' twosubscribing' witncsscs.

JOSEPH O. THOMPSON. ll'itncsscs:

H. N. S'mLnY, C. J. EAToN.

